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The City of Vancouver issued an extreme weather alert Saturday, freeing up shelter beds for the homeless in the event temperatures dropped below zero.

The alert activated emergency shelters citywide as well as the Assistance to Shelter Act, enabling police to direct homeless and other at-risk individuals to shelter facilities.

The alert, issued Saturday morning, remained in effect late Sunday, with a total of seven temporary shelters with nearly 250 beds and mats opening their doors overnight.

As of Sunday evening, however, the weather was expected to warm up. Environment Canada called for an overnight low of 1 C and daytime high Monday of 4 C.

Still, the chilly weather saw Union Gospel Mission at 601 East Hastings supply 20 additional beds for men if its regular 72 spaces filled up Sunday. At the Gathering Place at 609 Helmcken St., more than 40 people could be sheltered in its theatre space.

The extreme weather alert came on the heels of heightened anxiety about the availability of temporary shelter space for Vancouver’s homeless population.

A reduction to 60 spaces earlier this year from a 2011 peak of 240 at the low-barrier First United Church shelter left the city’s homeless facing fewer temporary shelter beds.

Meanwhile, the number of people living on the street doubled in 2012 compared with 2011. The city’s annual count of unsheltered homeless people — those with no physical shelter and sleeping on the street or in doorways, parkades, parks and beaches — increased to 306 in 2012 from 154 in 2011. The 24-hour count was carried out in March.

“Many people who had been living in the (First United) shelter were forced to leave. With limited low-barrier shelter space, many were unable to find a suitable alternative,” said Brittany Graham, program coordinator for the Eastside Illicit Drinkers Group for Education (EIDGE), an advocacy group started this year.

“Many of those people affected by this are members of EIDGE. This past summer within two months, six members of EIDGE died. All of them had been impacted by the changes at First United,” Graham said in an email.

She is worried a lack of space at low-barrier shelters — filled each night on a first-come, first-served basis with few restrictions around access, pets or identification — will end up harming homeless people, particularly in the Downtown Eastside, as colder weather approaches.

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